Biopolymer Stabilization of Mine Tailings
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 10
Abstract
A feasibility study was performed on using xanthan gum and guar gum, two biopolymers that are naturally occurring and inexpensive, to stabilize mine tailings (MT). The simple fall cone method was adopted to evaluate the liquid limit and undrained shear strength of sun-dried MT mixed with xanthan gum or guar gum solutions at different concentrations. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) imaging was also conducted to study the microstructure of the biopolymer-MT system. The results indicate that the inclusion of xanthan gum or guar gum increases both the liquid limit and the undrained shear strength of the MT, higher biopolymer concentrations leading to greater increases. The increase of the liquid limit and undrained shear strength of the MT mixed with a biopolymer solution is mainly attributable to the high viscosity of the biopolymer pore fluid and the bonding between the biopolymer and the MT particles. Guar gum is more effective than xanthan gum in increasing the liquid limit and undrained shear strength of the MT, because the guar gum solution is more viscous than the xanthan gum solution at the same concentration, the guar gum–MT particle bonding is stronger than the xanthan gum–MT particle bonding, and guar gum causes a lower degree of aggregation of MT particles than xanthan gum. By comparing the undrained shear strength data with empirical equations in the literature, two new equations were proposed for predicting the undrained shear strength of the MT mixed with a biopolymer for water contents near the liquid limit, based on the liquid limit and water content, and the liquidity index, respectively.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Berilgen, S. A., Kilic, H., and Ozaydin, I. K. (2007). “Determination of undrained shear strength for dredged golden horn marine clay with laboratory tests.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Soil and Rock Engineering, Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 5–11.
British Standards Institution. (1990). “Methods of test for soils for civil engineering purposes. Part 2: Classification test.” BS 1377, London.
Chudzikowski, R. J. (1971). “Guar gum and its applications.” J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 22, 43–60.
DeJong, J. T., Mortensen, B. M., Martinez, B. C., and Nelson, D. C. (2010). “Bio-mediated soil improvement.” Ecol. Eng., 36(2), 197–210.
Federico, A. (1983). “Relationships () and () for remoulded clayey soils at high water content.” Riv. Ital. Geotech., 17(1), 38–41.
Feng, T. W. (2000). “Fall-cone penetration and water content relationships of clays.” Geotechnique, 50(2), 181–187.
García-Ochoa, F., Santos, V. E., Casas, J. A., and Gómez, E. (2000). “Xanthan gum: Production, recovery, and properties.” Biotechnol. Adv., 18(7), 549–579.
Hansbo, S. (1957). “A new approach to the determination of the shear strength of clay by the fall cone test.” Royal Swedish Geotech. Inst. Proc. No. 14, Royal Swedish Geotechnical Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, 7–48.
Ivanov, V., and Chu, J. (2008). “Applications of microorganisms to geotechnical engineering for bioclogging and biocementation of soil in situ.” Rev. Environ. Sci. Biotechnol., 7(2), 139–153.
Karimi, S. (1998). “A study of geotechnical applications of biopolymer treated soils with an emphasis on silt.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Kim, D., Quinlan, M., and Yen, T. F. (2009). “Encapsulation of lead from hazardous CRT glass wastes using biopolymer cross-linked concrete systems.” Waste Manag., 29(1), 321–328.
Lee, L. T. (2004). “Predicting geotechnical parameters for dredged materials using the slump test method and index property correlations.” DOER Technical Notes Collection (ERDC TN-DOER-D-X), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS.
Mahajan, S. P., and Budhu, M. (2009). “Shear viscosity of clays using the fall cone test.” Geotechnique, 59(6), 539–543.
Martin, G. R., Yen, T. F., and Karimi, S. (1996). “Application of biopolymer technology in silty soil matrices to form impervious barriers.” Proc., 7th Australia-New Zealand Geomechanics Conf., Institution of Engineers, Barton, Australia, 814–819.
Milas, M., Rinaudo, M., and Tinland, B. (1985). “The viscosity dependence on concentration, molecular weight, and shear rate of xanthan solutions.” Polym. Bull., 14(2), 157–164.
Nugent, R. A., Zhang, G., and Gambrell, R. P. (2009). “Effect of exopolymers on the liquid limit of clays and its engineering implications.” Transportation Research Record 2101, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 34–43.
Orts, W. J., et al. (2007). “Use of synthetic polymers and biopolymers for soil stabilization in agricultural, construction, and military applications.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 19(1), 58–66.
Rankhododo, N. E. (2006). “Use of cement to reduce erosion of the slopes of mine tailings dams.” M.S. thesis, Univ. of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Schofield, A. N., and Wroth, C. P. (1968). Critical state soil mechanics, McGraw Hill, London.
Whitcomb, P. J., Gutowski, J., and Howland, W. W. (1980). “Rheology of guar solutions.” J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 25(12), 2815–2827.
Whyte, I. L. (1982). “Soil plasticity and strength: A new approach using extrusion.” Ground Eng., 15(1), 16–24.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 10 • October 2013
Pages: 1802 - 1807
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 25, 2012
Accepted: Jan 25, 2013
Published online: Jan 29, 2013
Published in print: Oct 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.